AGIF Summit Spotlight Falls on Growing Female Participation in Golf

‘Growing Female Participation in Golf’ will be the theme at next week’s Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF)-organised Club Management Mini Summit.

Featuring a quartet of respected golf industry individuals as speakers, the October 26 event will take place at TPC Kuala Lumpur, a Golf Course Facility Member of the AGIF.

Staged in partnership with the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA), the Golf Club Managers Association of Malaysia (GCMAM) and TPC Kuala Lumpur, the Mini Summit coincides with the opening day of the star-studded Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.

Sponsored by Club Car and Toro, the Mini Summit follows on from the third Golf Course Superintendents Association of Malaysia (GCSAM) and AGIF Turfgrass Management Seminar and field day, scheduled for October 25.

Eric Lynge, the AGIF’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “It’s shaping up to be a memorable week for the golf industry in Malaysia and beyond.

“Given the commitment of Sime Darby and TPC Kuala Lumpur to the women’s game, it’s entirely appropriate that the spotlight of this Mini Summit should shine on female participation in golf.

“For the game to flourish in the decades ahead, it’s clearly crucial that more is done to encourage females to play golf. Our esteemed speakers will be discussing how to make that happen.

“The previous Mini Summits that we have organised around the region have provoked considerable positive feedback and we are anticipating another excellent turnout at TPC Kuala Lumpur.”

Teeing-off proceedings at the Mini Summit will be Shoumo Mitra, Head Marketing, APAC Syngenta Asia-Pacific. The title of his presentation is ‘The Global Economic Value of Increased Female Participation in Golf’.

He will be followed by Steven Thielke, TPC Kuala Lumpur’s Chief Executive Officer. Thielke will discuss ‘Grow the Game Club Strategy’, focusing on the ways in which TPC Kuala Lumpur has embraced female golfers.

Completing the morning session, Master Academy Instructor Koe Lai Yin will talk about ‘Building Women’s Golf in Malaysia’ and will then join a panel discussion, including MST Golf Director Paul Gibbons, Mitra and Thielke.

A former Malaysian national team player, Koe has acted as Head Coach for the Sime Darby LPGA Development Programme and is among Asia’s best-known female golf instructors.

In the afternoon, delegates will be able to sample the hospitality at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, which includes many of the world’s leading female golfers, including defending champion Feng Shanshan of China, world number one Ryu So-yeon of Korea and Taiwan’s Tseng Ya-ni.

Thielke said: “That we are required to extend invites to Olympians, Solheim Cup players, and former world number ones demonstrates the depth of this year’s line-up. We have again amassed a sensational field, and we can’t wait to see the world’s best golfers return for what is guaranteed to be an unmissable week, both on, and off, the course.”

The TPC Kuala Lumpur event is the fifth in a series of Mini Summits staged by the AGIF this year with previous events having been held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

For further information and to book your place at next week’s Mini Summit, please contact the AGIF Secretariat at pk.ong@agif.asia

Asian Golf Industry Federation www.agif.asia